If the “return-path” isn’t configurable when sending email via mandrill then please let us know and I’ll setup another system for autoreponders (eg: a script to import via pop3 and send a custom reply that way).

edit: just did a quick google search and it seems return-path is not configurable, mandrill sets this so they can determine delivery rates / spam etc… Will set up a 3rd party auto-reply script for contact forms shortly.

edit again: this should probably be advertised in some way to other authors (ie: “Hey guys, we’ve changed our mail backend so it’s more reliable with our huge number of authors. If you have setup email auto-replies from your profile please confirm they still work.) I didn’t know mine were broken until reading this thread, I saw the archived messages + replies in gmail and thought it was all still working.

Hi folks, it doesn’t look like we can set the Return-Path header via Mandrill, as they use this for their bounce tracking. We’ll file a support a ticket with them to check if this is possible, but in the meantime, there’s nothing much we can do about this quickly.

It’s unfortunate that Google uses Return-Path instead of Reply-To, but it doesn’t look like that’ll be changed any time soon. dtbaker’s new script is sounding like a great plan

I’ve noted the request for different author email addresses, but I’m not sure if it would help in this case?

Darn… this has been a big headache since I’ve been on vacation and none of those auto-responses have been delivered. Sucks to be stuck between two “won’t-fix”es (Google and Mandrill). Though if Mandrill is receiving a response to the return-path that isn’t a bounce, shouldn’t they be forwarding it to the appropriate reply-to email? Or is there no differentiation between a bounce and a reply? Then again, it seems like Google should at least offer the option to respond to the reply-to field instead.

I know this isn’t an immediate solution, but I wonder if in the future Envato could offer the option to simply POST the contact form data to a remote URL (specified by the author) as an alternative to email – this would make it much easier for authors to write their own solutions for handling correspondence and hooking into custom forums, support ticket systems, sending intelligent auto-replies, etc. It could go a long way to unifying support and help out both authors and customers. Just a thought – could be a terrible idea haha

I just noticed we’re having issues with zendesk too: since envato switched to mandrill, all mails coming from our profile form and routed to zendesk are being marked as “Automated response email” and suspended.

It makes sense for mailing lists / newsletters but messages from buyers sent via our profile forms are none of them. Problem for us is that zendesk detects that header and suspends the tickets because it believes it’s a newsletter welcome mail.